What I saw when I darted into the grand hall made my heart tumble. In a single breath, chaos had erupted around us. Screams and clangs of metal against metal echoed across the vaulted ceilings. A wall of obsidian cloaks blocked our path to the dais. My eyes flew to Malou, pinned to the wall, glowing green light circling her as she clawed at her throat.
“You try to poison me? Me?” Sawyn raged, squeezing her hand through the air as Malou’s eyes rolled back. The same chokehold that would’ve killed me in Damrienn were it not for Grae’s protection stone.
I raced forward, only to be met by a wall of Rooks. Mina darted out through the crowd, brandishing a fallen Rook’s scythe. The normally mousy twin looked ferocious, slashing at Sawyn. The sorceress gaped down at the split fabric of her dress.
“Curse the Gods,” she snarled. “More twins.”
Her free hand shot out and Mina flew across the room, slamming into the wall beside her sister.
I ducked at the whoosh of air, nearly caught off guard from watching Sawyn’s attack. But I was, above all else, a warrior, and my fist cracked into the Rook’s nose, blooding pouring from his face covering. He tried to swing at me again, slipping on his own blood and landing hard on his knees. I didn’t pause, slicing my blade straight across his neck, grateful for the time and training that made my body move without thought. It was a dance, the Rooks only knowing a few steps, and I always knew their next move. Not only that, I was dancing to my song. I yanked my blade from a Rook’s neck, whirling toward another three. Their eyes narrowed as they charged me, pushing me back into Sadie and Grae.
Grae ducked under careless swings, Sadie and I right behind him. He let three Rooks slip past him, funneling them toward us as we cut them down. I lost sight of Navin and Ora as they plunged into the fray. The swarm of black feathers blocked from sight the wall where Mina and Malou were pinned. They weren’t skillful, but there were so damn many.
I choked up on the hilt of my dagger, waiting as Grae sparred with the Rook closer to me. When his back turned, I swiped my blade, catching only the fabric of his cloak, but it was enough to make him whirl toward me. Mistake. The second his head turned, Grae lurched forward, wrapping his arm around the Rook’s neck. He locked his wrist with his other arm, choking the attacker as his eyes bugged, turning bright red. He clawed at Grae’s muscled arm, easily holding his prey. His eyes rolled back and his body drooped. Grae released him, letting him fall to the floor.
For each soldier we cut down, two more appeared. Like the ostekke’s tentacles, the endless onslaught pushed us back, and fear coiled in my gut. Their sheer numbers might still overwhelm our superior skill. I tried to keep my focus on one at a time, knowing if I lifted my head the odds would feel insurmountable. I needed to get to the dais. Briar was mere feet away. We were so close. We just needed to keep going.
A thud sounded and I looked to see Sadie’s right hook land on her attacker’s temple. He fell limp to the floor as the sound of more footsteps rushed through the hall. She turned toward her next attacker, and he booted her in the gut. Stumbling backward, she grabbed her dagger from her oversized coat. She advanced, raising it only to be met by the block of a sword, but it wasn’t a Rook holding the blade . . . it was Navin.
Sadie’s eyes flew wide as she stared past their warring blades and into his bronze gaze.
“Stop,” Navin whispered, his chest heaving as he pushed the Rook behind him.
The Rook shrunk, his shoulders deflating as if relieved to have Navin’s protection.
I surveyed the Rook behind Navin, the same height as him with the same bronze eyes, and, even with the rest of his face obscured, I knew it was his brother.
“This is him then? Your brother?” Sadie growled, dropping her dagger and easily shoving Navin backward into his sibling. “He just tried to kill me!” Navin opened his mouth, but no words came out. “I see.” She took a shuddering breath, hiding it behind a snarl, but I could see the pain lancing through her worse than any slice of a blade. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t pick me.”
“Sadie, please—” Navin pleaded, taking another step toward her, and she shoved him again. He tumbled backward into his brother, both of them falling to the floor.
It was a stark reminder that she was a Wolf, easily overpowering him not only from fighting skill but also from sheer Wolf strength. She twisted toward me, pain bracketing her expression as she shoved me toward a gap in the wall of soldiers.
“Go,” she urged. Even as her voice cracked, she turned toward the next Rooks, black capes swarming her once more. “Help the twins. I’ll deal with this lot,” she added, and I knew it was the closest that she’d get to saying she was okay.
I nodded, spotting another opening in the line of attackers. I seized it, bolting toward the dais. My shoulder cracked into an entertainer and I threw out my hands to catch them. My thumb skimmed over their collar as I steadied them and my mouth fell open. I stared at the embroidered raindrop—the same one I’d seen hanging above the dinner table in Galen den’ Mora. Was this its original owner? My eyes darted from the badge to meet their dark eyes. They gave me a wink and plunged back into the fray.
Look for the badges.
I was beginning to think Ora might be the most amazing person I’d ever met.
The music bolstered me as I scrambled up to the dais, barreling into the back of Sawyn. The sorceress fell forward but caught herself before slipping to the ground. As her hands fell, the twins plummeted to the floor. I screamed at the sickening crack of Malou’s head against the stone. Mina curled into a ball, groaning. I wanted to run to their aid, but I was under the full focus of the green-eyed sorceress.
“You!” Sawyn seethed, spinning toward me.
She stumbled forward, her breathing thick. She threw out her hands toward me as if to cast her magic, but little more than sparks flickered around her hands. She repeated the gesture and fewer sparks sputtered from her fingertips. I grinned. The nitehock Malou had given her was working.
She narrowed her hateful eyes at me. “You think I need my magic to defeat you?” Unsheathing the thin sword at her hip, she smirked. “I shouldn’t have let the ostekke have you when I could’ve finished you myself.”
She swung, and I blocked, locking my arms to hold my guard. I shoved her back, twisting under her attacking arm and swiping her side with my dagger. She ducked out of my blow, her sword carrying on the momentum of her strike. The edge collided with my forearm and I barked out a cry of pain as the blade pierced my skin.
“You’ve severely underestimated me, girl.” Sawyn cackled at the shock on my face as she bested me at every attack and battle tactic I knew. All my training, I assumed Sawyn would rely solely on her magic, and now I was facing that miscalculation at the tip of her blade.